Shutter release mechanism



Patented Sept. 26, 1939 UNITED STATES PATIENT OFFICE Ernst Leitz, G. in. b.

11., Wetzlar, Germany Application May 19,1937, Serial No. 143,415 In Germany June 19, 1936 1 Claim.

posed. Or-the shuttermay run back in closed condition, hence it would be necessary to again rewind the shutter and then of course an unused film length would be advanced.

The object of the invention is to provide means for preventing operation of the shutter release before the film has been completely wound up or advanced for the taking of the next picture.

The means for preventing such operation are so arranged that the releasing mechanism cannot be operated until after-thefilm conveying roller has made the usual complete revolutionfor ad- 25. vancing the film for the next picture.

In the accompanying drawing illustrating the invention- Fig. l is a view 'of a portion of a roll filmcamera illustrating the invention and with parts re- 30 moved and parts in section.

1 Fig. 2 is a sectional detail view on the line 2 -2 of Fig. l.

Fig. 1 illustrates a portion of a well known type of camera in which the shutter consists 35 of two curtains which are operated between cur- The curtains.

tain rollers to form an exposure. are attached to curtain rollers and by means of ribbons to ribbon drums. Spring rollers are provided to move the curtains in one direction to 40 open and close the shutter and rewinding means is provided to rewind the shutter springs for the next operation. Inasmuch as such shutters and their detailed construction and operation is well known in the art Fig. 1 shows only so much of 4a the shutter mechanism per so as is necessary for understanding this invention. It is also well known that in such cameras the film is unwound from a supply spool and the exposed film is wound up upon a winding up spool.

50 Referring to Fig. 1 the one shutter curtain 22 is attached to a curtain roller H and the numeral 23 indicates one of the ribbons forattaching the other curtain, not shown, to the ribbon drum 8. The curtains are wound up upon the 56 roller Ilhnd the drum 8 which are both mounted upon the same curtain'shaft 24. When the shutter is released by means hereinafter explained, the shutter springs, .not shown, draw the curtains from the right to the left in the drawing to make an exposure and unwind them 5 from the curtain roller andthe ribbon drum.

The film, not shown, is wound up upon a film roller, not shown, but located directly beneath the film rewind knob 26. The rewinding being done by means of a film transport roller 4 hav- 10 ing sprocket wheels 25 which e'ngage the perforations in the film in the usual manner. At the top the roller 4 carries a gear 3 whichis operated from a rewind knob 26 by gears '21 and 2. The rewind knob operates the film roller 16 and the shutter rewinding means through the said gears 21, 2 and At the bottom the film transport roller 4 carries a gear 5 which by means of another gear 6 drives a gear 1 fast upon a coupling member Ill. The coupling member isgo rotatably mounted upon the curtain roller shaft 24 and carries an upstanding pin 9 adapted to engage a depending pin 28 secured to the ribbon drum 8. The shutter release shaft [2 extends down inside the film transport roller 4 25 and rests upon a member I 4 which, upon being depressed by the release shaft, serves to disengage the coupling member Hl from the drum 8 whereupon the shutter springs operate the shutter in a well known manner to make an 30 exposure. The connections between the member l4 and the coupling member I0 are not shown, but may be of any suitable kind, for instance a claw member, not shown, which engages the annular recess 30 in the coupling member In.

The member l4 has a recess whichencloses the spr'mg l5 which normally keeps the member H in its upper position whereby the coupling member I0 is in normal engagement with the drum 8. The spring I5 also serves to keep the release 40 shaft l2 in normal upper inactive position.

The release shaft [2 is provided with a transverse pin I! which moves in a slot IS in the film transport roller 4. One end 20 of the pin is shorter than the other end. When the film has been fully advanced for the taking of the next picture the release shaft may be depressed by a knob I3 to release the shutter as will be understood. The advancement of the film in order to bring an unexposed portion before the exposure opening of the camera takes place simultaneously with the rewinding of the shutter as is well known. The advancing movement of the 'film the length of one picture is accomplished by operating the rewinding knob 26 whereby the film transport roller 4 makes one complete clockwise revolution. Upon the depression of the release shaft I! the shorter end 20 of the pin l1 passes down through a slot IS in a horizontal wall l8 which is part of the camera casing. If the film roller 4 has not made a complete revolution which is necessary for advancing the film, the longer end i! of the pin will rest above the wall l8 and consequently the release shaft 12 cannot be depressed or operated. When it is desired to take a picture, the release shaft I2 is depressed to move the lever 14 down against the spring l5 and the coupling member ID is moved down to disengage the pins 9 and 28. The shutter is now released and an exposure is made.

During the operation of the camera the film transport roller shaft 4 makes one complete revolution to advance the film for the taking of the next picture and to wind up the shutter and at the same time the arm 20 of the pin H is positioned so as to pass down through the slot l9 when the release knob 43 is operated to release the shutter. If the preceding revolution of the film roller 4 has not been completed the pin I! will not be able to pass down through the slot l9 and the release cannot be prematurely or accidentally operated.

This invention therefore provides a pin it on the shutter release shaft which is automatically placed "in a predetermined position to register with the slot l9 at the end of each rewinding posure, mechanism preventing operation of said shutter release before said rewinding and film advancing operations have been completed, said mechanism consisting of a projection on said depressible slidable shutter release, a fixed memher on the camera in the path of movement of said projection when the shutter release is depressed to prevent such depression, said film transport roller having means for rotating said projection to position it for movement in a path spaced from said fixed member when the aforesaid rewinding and film advancing operations have been completed.

W'ILI-IELM ALBERT. 

